Milwaukee uses a ferocious fourth quarter run to secure the victory
In a wild comeback finish, the Milwaukee Bucks came back from the dead and defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves, 110-103. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s triple-double of 23 points, 13 rebounds, and ten assists led the way for the Bucks. Bobby Portis notched a double-double of 18 points and ten rebounds in his return from a 25-game suspension, while Kevin Porter Jr.’s 21 points off the bench were massive in the comeback.
Anthony Edwards’ 25 points served as the game high in this one.
Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast Bucks In Six Minutes below.
What Did We Learn?
We learned that there’s no quit in this Bucks team. They seemed dead in the water. In fact, at 10:09 left in the fourth, the Wolves had a 99.9% chance winning after a Donte DiVincenzo 3-pointer. Boy, did things shift after that. Milwaukee ended up embarking on a 30-3 run to flip the table and re-claim the lead. All in all, the Bucks closed things out with a 39-8 run. Down the stretch, Doc opted to flip into a zone coverage, creating stops that allowed Milwaukee to get out running. That was exhibited by a run of KPJ fastbreak dunks, fueling the energy to complete the comeback.
Three Observations
The presence of Bobby Portis was felt in his return.
Doc wasted no time in getting BP back out on the court, immediately ramping up his minutes. Off the bench, he poured in 29 minutes of action, embarking on a double-double performance with 18 points and ten boards. From the moment he stepped out onto the court, you could tell something was different. The cheers from the crowd immediately breathed new life into the arena. Down the stretch, that energy was even more palpable — and Portis was a large reason behind it. In his postgame presser, BP mentioned how last night was the first time he got chills listening to the Bobby chants from the crowd since he heard it for the first time in the 2020-21 season.
Kevin Porter Jr. can hoop.
I mean, my goodness. So many times this season, KPJ has ignited things for the Bucks. Last night was no different. Following the scuffle between himself and Rudy Gobert, he continued to accelerate, picking up the intensity on the defensive end and racking up the steals. In the fourth, the Bucks’ defense intensified, forcing eight live-ball turnovers. KPJ stole four of them. He then translated that into fastbreak opportunities, launching the Bucks back in front. All in all, Scoot’s stat line read 21 points on the night. He was simply massive for Milwaukee and continues to be huge in Dame’s absence.
Giannis continues to do Giannis things, along with enlisting trust.
With a 23 point, 13 rebound, and ten rebound performance, Giannis Antetokounmpo earned his career-high-tying third consecutive triple-double. However, arguably more impressive than that was the amount of trust he enlisted in his teammates. In particular, Doc mentioned a pick-and-roll between Scoot and BP where Giannis stood on the side, encouraging those two to unfold with their action. The word Doc used was empowering. He then continued to just praise how Giannis is playing such great basketball in typical Doc fashion. It truly does seem as if Antetokounmpo is playing his best basketball of the season. Over his last three games, he’s averaging 31.3 points, 15 rebounds, and 13.3 assists per game while shooting 61.8% from the floor. Given where we’re at in this time of the season, that’s huge for the Bucks.
Bonus Bucks Bits
- The Bucks’ 3-point shooting in the first half was pretty close to abysmal. They weren’t able to dial in many connections at all, going just 4-of-21 from the perimeter.
- Postgame, KPJ talked about how big Damian Lillard has been for him, even without being out on the court. It’s great to see Dame empower KPJ in that manner and encourage him to continue being a dominating presence for the team out on the floor.
- KPJ has now scored 20+ points in a season-high three consecutive games. It’s the third-longest such streak of his career. He scored 12 points in the fourth quarter of this one, marking his seventh time scoring 10+ points in a single quarter this season.
- As was mentioned, Bobby Portis earned a double-double in his return to the court. He’s now totaled 79 career double-doubles off the bench, which are the fourth-most in NBA history behind Roy Tarpley (81), Enes Freedom (86), and Detlef Schrempf (106).
- Doc and some players attributed Bobby’s presence and demeanor as a big reason as to why they were able to get the job done. In his postgame availability, Scoot talked about how Bobby was in the huddle mentioning to everyone how this is a test for the playoffs and how the scenarios will be similar. Funny enough, Bobby was also calming Scoot down after the feud with Gobert.
- Those threes from AJ Green late were massive. I mean, pulling up from the logo from 32 feet? My goodness.
- Speaking of threes, we had some franchise history in this one. Gary Trent Jr. hit two threes last night, setting the franchise record for most made threes off the bench in a season, passing Michael Redd (154; 2002-03). Trent has now made a career-high 156 threes off the bench this season (3rd in the NBA).
- There was no Kyle Kuzma down the stretch in this one. In 25 minutes of action, he scored ten points. Instead, Rivers went with a lineup of Trent and AJ Green playing the final 13 minutes, while KPJ played the final 14 minutes and BP the final 18.
Up Next
The Bucks are now off until tomorrow night, which is when they’ll clash against the New Orleans Pelicans once again. However, this time, it’ll be at Fiserv Forum. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. CST. You can catch the action on FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin or stream it on our Playback and YouTube channels.
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